DES MOINES, Iowa — History was made at the Iowa State Capitol Tuesday morning.

New State Representative Angel Ramirez (D-Cedar Rapids) was sworn in. She is the first Latina to be elected to the Iowa State Legislature.

Being the first was something Ramirez said brought on conflicting feelings.

“I’ll be honest, there are, there was conflicting emotions for me. I’m furious and heartbroken that I’m the first. It’s 2025, right? We have a significant immigrant population here. We have a relatively significant and growing Latino community here. So that was infuriating. And also, it’s really humbling to be the first. And it’s really exciting to be the first because, again, I think it’s my mission now as a representative to carve space for people coming up into this, into this field, into this position of power. So that’s something that I really look forward to doing,” said Ramirez.

She won the District 78 seat in a special election after Rep. Sami Scheetz (D) stepped down following his appointment to the Linn County Board of Supervisors.